“We live in a time when wars and geopolitical tensions dominate headlines — while our planet’s life-support systems are in crisis. These are not separate stories, but deeply entangled ones,” Prof. Dr. Peter Messerli said at Diplomacy Day. “At the same time, peace is not green by default, but by design. Conflict is not always the greatest environmental destroyer — which is why we must work together and remain clear about our common purpose.”

The Wyss Academy for Nature was proud to co-host the 2025 edition of Diplomacy Day with the Locarno Film Festival, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the City of Locarno. Marking the 100th anniversary of the Locarno Peace Treaties, the event brought together over 200 leaders from diplomacy, business, civil society, and culture to reflect on shifting policy priorities and whether they are enabling us to address global crises and foster peace.

In a conversation with Laurent Goetschel (Swisspeace), Ambassador Amina C. Mohamed, Pierre Krähenbühl (International Committee of the Red Cross - ICRC), Carlos Alvarez Pereira (Club of Rome), and Ambassador Nathalie Chuard (DCAF - Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance), they discussed the links between peace and nature. Peter Messerli stressed the need to tackle the root causes of conflict, environmental damage, and inequality — and to rethink the systems that drive them. A key point: see people and the planet as one, not as separate.

The event was also marked by a historic moment that celebrated the role of culture and the arts in fostering dialogue and global cooperation: Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof received the first Peace Award from the City of Locarno, honoring him as a courageous ambassador for peace from the world of cinema.